Here I will be reviewing the PCSpecialist Lafité II.
I ordered the Lafité II on the 1st October 2015. The order arrived on the 8th October 2015.
This particular order totalled 4 working days which is really impressive. Great job to PCS since I expected the order to arrive much much later so I was happily surprised when the order was dispatched on the 7th.
Packaging
The laptop came in a large box that used large air sausage cushions(don't know what they're called exactly) to protect the smaller laptop box. The laptop box itself uses firm foam to protect it. I would've liked to see even softer foam being used but the packaging and protection is definitely more than enough for a laptop this light.
Initial Impressions
When I first took out the laptop the biggest thing that surprised me was how solidly built it was. The aluminium unibody design is very sturdy and there's no flex to the body or typing area, which is great as I consider myself heavy fingered. The laptop feels extremely premium and looks like something that should be worth a lot more than my £540 price tag.
Monitor
The monitor used in the Lafité II is a 1920x1080 IPS panel. The panel is astounding. It has a matt glazing which reduces background glare very well. The monitors' colour pops out and the resolution in this size makes for a very enjoyable viewing experience. The panel had no dead pixels or scratches on it. It's hard to sum up a panels performance when I'm missing colour calibration tools and software, but I can tell you that this panel is extremely enjoyable to use.
Keyboard
The keyboard features a chiclet style design with a separation of about 4mm per key. The keyboard is certainly good, but it obviously doesn't compare to mechanical keyboards. I find myself often hitting the far edge corners of the keys too often, which results in me missing out letters completely when I'm typing. It's a little mushy if you don't hit the key directly in the middle. If you're used to this kind of keyboard from something like a macbook, then you'll find it to be exactly as how you'd expect it.
The backlighting for the keyboard has 3 levels: off, low or high. I find myself using low often as I like to keep my room dim. The lighting on low is very adequate in a dark room and it's brightness is consistent throughout the whole keyboard.
Trackpad
The most disappointing part of this laptop for me. It has a grey textured surface which is actually quite nice to use. The trackpad is somewhat 50/50 in responsiveness. Sometimes I have to click the trackpad 2 or 3 times for it to respond. Other times the trackpad just doesn't do anything for about 5 seconds. It certainly makes the experience more frustrating when web browsing and doing light photo editing. There are nice functions through the trackpad settings with 2 or 3 finger actions.
Overall Usage
The laptop is certainly fast and responsive with it's i5-6200U processor and 850 EVO SSD. The laptop turns on from cold in about 8-10 seconds which for me is perfectly fine. Apps and web browsing are extremely quick, which makes for a very enjoyable experience. The port placements for this laptop are perfectly okay with me. I would've liked to see an RJ 45 port come as standard but the WiFi never disconnects which is good.
Depending on how you sit and type, the front edge of the laptop scrapes my wrist uncomfortably but this issue might just be for me. If you find yourself often with your elbow below your hand then this could be a minor nuisance.
Battery life is as advertised by PCS for the Lafité II, I get roughly 8 hours as shown by Windows when the monitors' brightness is low. Charging is a bit disappointing. To get a full charge from about 10% takes 5-6 hours so it's best to charge this laptop at night.
Final Thoughts
Words can only describe so much when you're reviewing a product. The best way I can describe the Lafité II is that it's certainly worth the £540 I paid for this particular configuration. The laptop overall looks and feels very premium. It's portability and weight is very handy for me as I travel with a bag a lot. It's quick, attractive and has a bloody good panel which can't be emphasized enough. It makes for an interesting talking point because of it's lack of any branding and it's certainly a great laptop for anyone looking for a portable and fast browsing/light work machine.
I'm not good at this kind of thing so I would've missed things out. Feel free to ask questions.
Here's a selection of pictures and random things of the laptop.
http://imgur.com/a/fFybP
I ordered the Lafité II on the 1st October 2015. The order arrived on the 8th October 2015.
This particular order totalled 4 working days which is really impressive. Great job to PCS since I expected the order to arrive much much later so I was happily surprised when the order was dispatched on the 7th.
Packaging
The laptop came in a large box that used large air sausage cushions(don't know what they're called exactly) to protect the smaller laptop box. The laptop box itself uses firm foam to protect it. I would've liked to see even softer foam being used but the packaging and protection is definitely more than enough for a laptop this light.
Initial Impressions
When I first took out the laptop the biggest thing that surprised me was how solidly built it was. The aluminium unibody design is very sturdy and there's no flex to the body or typing area, which is great as I consider myself heavy fingered. The laptop feels extremely premium and looks like something that should be worth a lot more than my £540 price tag.
Monitor
The monitor used in the Lafité II is a 1920x1080 IPS panel. The panel is astounding. It has a matt glazing which reduces background glare very well. The monitors' colour pops out and the resolution in this size makes for a very enjoyable viewing experience. The panel had no dead pixels or scratches on it. It's hard to sum up a panels performance when I'm missing colour calibration tools and software, but I can tell you that this panel is extremely enjoyable to use.
Keyboard
The keyboard features a chiclet style design with a separation of about 4mm per key. The keyboard is certainly good, but it obviously doesn't compare to mechanical keyboards. I find myself often hitting the far edge corners of the keys too often, which results in me missing out letters completely when I'm typing. It's a little mushy if you don't hit the key directly in the middle. If you're used to this kind of keyboard from something like a macbook, then you'll find it to be exactly as how you'd expect it.
The backlighting for the keyboard has 3 levels: off, low or high. I find myself using low often as I like to keep my room dim. The lighting on low is very adequate in a dark room and it's brightness is consistent throughout the whole keyboard.
Trackpad
The most disappointing part of this laptop for me. It has a grey textured surface which is actually quite nice to use. The trackpad is somewhat 50/50 in responsiveness. Sometimes I have to click the trackpad 2 or 3 times for it to respond. Other times the trackpad just doesn't do anything for about 5 seconds. It certainly makes the experience more frustrating when web browsing and doing light photo editing. There are nice functions through the trackpad settings with 2 or 3 finger actions.
Overall Usage
The laptop is certainly fast and responsive with it's i5-6200U processor and 850 EVO SSD. The laptop turns on from cold in about 8-10 seconds which for me is perfectly fine. Apps and web browsing are extremely quick, which makes for a very enjoyable experience. The port placements for this laptop are perfectly okay with me. I would've liked to see an RJ 45 port come as standard but the WiFi never disconnects which is good.
Depending on how you sit and type, the front edge of the laptop scrapes my wrist uncomfortably but this issue might just be for me. If you find yourself often with your elbow below your hand then this could be a minor nuisance.
Battery life is as advertised by PCS for the Lafité II, I get roughly 8 hours as shown by Windows when the monitors' brightness is low. Charging is a bit disappointing. To get a full charge from about 10% takes 5-6 hours so it's best to charge this laptop at night.
Final Thoughts
Words can only describe so much when you're reviewing a product. The best way I can describe the Lafité II is that it's certainly worth the £540 I paid for this particular configuration. The laptop overall looks and feels very premium. It's portability and weight is very handy for me as I travel with a bag a lot. It's quick, attractive and has a bloody good panel which can't be emphasized enough. It makes for an interesting talking point because of it's lack of any branding and it's certainly a great laptop for anyone looking for a portable and fast browsing/light work machine.
I'm not good at this kind of thing so I would've missed things out. Feel free to ask questions.
Here's a selection of pictures and random things of the laptop.
http://imgur.com/a/fFybP
. Pleased with machine though in the brief play I've had.